A study published this week in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests that dogs choose to relieve themselves along a north-south axis in line with Earth's magnetic field. The Motherboard blog reported on the study's findings, saying that the research was carried out by a team of Czech and German scientists.

"Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth's magnetic field," said the research team. "Dogs preferred to excrete with the body being aligned along the North-south axis" rather than the East-west axis.

The study examined the daily habits of 70 dogs during 1,893 defecations and 5,582 urinations over the course of two years. Consistently, during times of calm electromagnetic "weather," the dogs chose to eliminate while facing north or south.

Dogs are not the only animals that are sensitive to the Earth's magnetism. When it comes time for them to mate, salmon use their sense of the Earth's magnetism to find their way back to the spawning grounds where they were born. Birds, similarly, migrate along magnetic lines. Even ants have been proven to have a sense of the Earth's alignment and to distinguish between north, south, east and west.

As to why the dogs prefer to poop facing north or south rather than east or west, that's still a mystery.

Kenitra, Internet after all is not without enemies...

The Internet has become the Archimedean point in our daily life. Almost nothing gets done without it nowadays. The more we rely on it, the more it seems impossible to live without it. It is undoubtedly the most reliable machine Man has ever made. However, could this blind dependence of ours in itself be a threat to mankind? Are we investing too much in this new medium that we are risking to lose too much if we ever were to live without it?

Why is the Internet so successful? How does it invade all aspects of life? The Internet, as a matter of fact, is the only manmade machine that has an organic structure. The way everything is wired up is unbelievably complex. Seeing that it has this organic structure, it seems to fit the properties of vitalism perfectly, and all aspects of human daily life. It fits the structure of society and how people connect to each other.

Life spreads by networking. The body itself is an information processor. Memory resides not just in brains but in every cell. No wonder genetics bloomed along with information theory. Gleick (2011:07)

Every newly added part, be it a computer or a smartphone for example, fits perfectly within the larger whole of the global network without disrupting the function of the rest of its parts, just like organic living cells. This is because "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" (Aristotle 384-22 BC). Besides, the Internet could also be seen as a virtual reduplication of society and reality as a whole. Therefore, it enjoys social compatibility. The Internet is capable of acquiring new intelligences, which is an aspect of the human brain. There is always room for improvement, but if its success is not due to its organic structure, then maybe it is due to the fact that Internet is an efficient tool that circulates, measures, organizes and processes information, boosting human knowledge. Thus, the Internet is unique for its potential to store and easily access human knowledge and above all, its promise for the ideal democracy.

A new catalogue of earthquake lights - mysterious glows sometimes reported before or during seismic shaking - finds that they happen most often in geological rift environments, where the ground is pulling apart. The work is the latest to tackle the enigmatic lights, which have been described by eyewitnesses for centuries but are yet to be fully explained by scientists^{1, 2, 3}.

The study, published in the January/February issue of Seismological Research Letters⁴, pulls together several strands of research to propose a mechanism by which earthquake lights form. The authors suggest that, during an earthquake, the stress of rocks grinding against each other generates electric charges, which travel upwards along the nearly vertical geological faults that are common in rift zones. When the charges reach Earth's surface and interact with the atmosphere, they create a glow.

"Earthquake lights are a real phenomenon - they're not UFOs," says lead author Robert Thériault, a geologist at Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources in Quebec City, Canada. "They can be scientifically explained."

When Philip Duncan noticed mysterious bright flashes outside his Christchurch hotel window during the early-morning 7.1 Darfield earthquake in September 2010, he didn't know what he was seeing. .

Flashes of electricity were surging out of the ground and into the sky, and from his high-rise hotel room at 4.35am, he at first thought he was watching a power station blowing up amid the quake.

"There wasn't a main centre to it ... it was just a big glowing flash," the WeatherWatch presenter said.

"It really just looked like it was lightning coming out of the ground in the same way that sheet lightning looks in the sky."

Now, scientists have been able to pinpoint the process that sparks "earthquake lights" - a rare phenomenon that could act as a warning before large quakes.

A study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters today, says the lights are most likely to occur on or near rift environments, where subvertical faults allow stress-induced electrical currents to flow rapidly to the surface.

Security experts have come up with a novel way to ensure your laptop or tablet hasn't been tampered with and your data compromised - glitter nail polish.

Physical tampering with devices to steal data, or install malware for monitoring purposes, is becoming an increasing problem, especially when travelling, where border officials can easily confiscate devices for 'inspection'.

Problems with hardware interference and data theft have been particularly reported by business travellers to China. The UK government meanwhile has the right to suck all the data from a device and store it when people enter and leave the country.

Many people do fit tamper-proof seals over ports and screws, but these can easily be opened cleanly or replicated in minutes by anyone with minimal training, security researchers Eric Michaud and Ryan Lackey said, while presenting at the Chaos Communication Congress, reports Wired magazine.

The pair's answer - create a seal that cannot be copied. Glitter nail polish is the perfect candidate for making the seal, the pair added, as a completely random pattern is created, unlike with standard paint or a sticker.

Once applied, a photo can be taken on a device such as a smartphone that will not leave your side - or can be left at home - to ensure the image has not been tampered with.

Using ultrasound, a team of Japanese scientists has levitated small particles, and moved them around mid-air. It's incredible to see.

This isn't the first time we've seen ultrasonic levitation, but it's a small step toward being able to move objects around once they're off the ground.

Unexplained plumes of radioactive steam have been rising from Fukushima's Reactor Building 3, Could a major meltdown be on the way? Fukushima's Reactor Building 3 exploded on 13th March 2011 as a result of a hydrogen buildup, breaching the building's containment and emitting a huge plume of radiation. The reactor itself is in meltdown.

And now fresh plumes of steam have been seen coming out the structure. These have now been confirmed by Tepco, the owner of the nuclear plant, from 19th December onwards. The company believes the steam is coming from the fifth floor of the building. However it does not know the cause of the steam. Lethal levels of radiation and the physical damage to the structure have so far made entry and inspection impossible.

Possibility 1: a meltdown is taking place

The Reactor 3 fuel storage pond still houses an estimated 89 tonnes of the plutonium-based MOX nuclear fuel employed by the reactor, composed of 514 fuel rods.

Ever since the explosion Tepco has been concerned that if the spent fuel storage pond dries out, the intensely radioactive spent fuel rods would melt down and produce further significant radioactive emissions.

One possibility is that this process may now be taking place. In the event of water loss from the pond, the water would begin to overheat and produce clouds of steam, prior to a complete meltdown. If this is the case then a second major nuclear disaster at Fukushima is in the making.

This explanation appears to be relatively improbable, however the Turner Radio Network is advising people on the West Coast of North America to "prepare for the worst" in case a meltdown of the waste fuel is in fact commencing.

No official warnings have been released on either side of the Pacific.

Oh 2013, what a high-tech year you were!

From the general recognition (finally) that the US government was spying on everyone, everyone's dog, and everyone's dog's lawn presents, to the almighty Mobile Revolution, to the 64-bit iPhone with 2X the awesome, to the complete abortion that is Windows 8/8.1...

Yes, it was a year to remember in the tech world.

Pay no attention to all those fireballs everyone was talking about.

As 2014 rolls in, I thought I would take a brief, syrupy-sweet and fluffy look at The State of Technology.

President Scottie: My fellow humans, the State of Technology is STROOOONG!

Adoring Public: [APPLAUSE, STANDING OVATION]

Just a few days ago we were watching the movie, Limitless:

"With the help of a mysterious pill that enables the user to access 100 percent of his brain abilities, a struggling writer becomes a financial wizard, but it also puts him in a new world with lots of dangers."

I didn't watch to the end. Somewhere in the middle, I left the room - I was afraid that the movie would not have a happy ending. That's how I am. Anyway I was thinking about these pills that can make you work as a genius, with passion, with fun, and also with success. So I went back to my desk and the PC, and then, accidentally (looking for something else) I stumbled on a book about "How to become a genius". Apparently there is a whole technology, and it works!

Anxious to know what your dog is thinking? The wait could soon be over as a 'dog-to-English' translator is set to become a reality in just four months.

No More Woof hopes to deliver the first translation devices in April 2014, after smashing its fundraising target this month.

The Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery hoped to raise $10,000 (£6,066) using crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, but has now raised over $15,000 (£9,101) with 47 days to spare.

The team is currently working on the devices, which analyse animal thought patterns before spelling them out in English.